I had a quiet week editing an interview with an actor, blasting through Tales of the World: Radiant History on the PSP and getting all of the Radiant Armour. I ended up watching a British horror called Blackwood at a cinema and lots of goodly anime. I also went back to day-tripping across the UK on the odd day off and ran into Doctor Who again – twice in one week.
My favourite discoveries of this week had to be the RPG Backtracks for Suikoden Tierkreis and Etrian Odyssey, games I really like. These are fun to listen to for RPG fans. I’d play through Tierkries again but I managed to get all of the characters on a first play-through and don’t want to lose them.
I posted about the movie release of Moebius and information on Tokyo Tribes. I’ve already finished more trailer posts – I’ve got lots of film reviews but I want to save them for an extended horror season.
What’s released in Tokyo this weekend?
Stand By Me Doraemon 
Japanese Title: STAND BY ME ドラえもん
Romaji: Stand By Me Doraemon
Release Date: August 08th, 2014
Running Time: 95 mins.
Director: Ryuichi Yagi, Takashi Yamazaki
Writer: Takashi Yamazaki (Screenplay)
Starring: Megumi Oohara (Nobita), Wasabi Mizuta (Doraemon), Yumi Kakazu (Shizuka), Tomokazu Seki (Suneo), Subaru Kimura (Gian),
This is a special film created to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Doraemon series. It shows a story about the parting of Doraemon and Nobita and the eventual plan to get them back together again through time travel experiment conducted by Nobita’s grandson. See Nobita as an adult and see why Doraemon is crying in the poster! The film is directed by Takashi Yamazaki (Space Battleship Yamato) and Ryuichi Yagi after collaborating on Japan’s first feature-length 3D CG anime film, Friends: Naki of Monster Island. They have worked with the production studios Robot (live-action Wild 7, Space Battleship Yamato 2010) and Shin-Ei Animation (Crayon Shin-chan and Doraemon franchises, Hare+Guu) to make the animation happen.
Space Brothers #o 
Japanese Title: 宇宙兄弟＃0
Romaji: Uchuu Kyoudai Number 0
Release Date: August 09th, 2014
Running Time: 95 mins.
Director: Ayumu Watanabe
Writer: Cuya Koyama (Screenplay/Original Manga)
Starring: Hiroaki Hirata (Mutta Nanba), Kenn (Hibito Nanba), Miyuki Sawashiro (Sherika Ito), Yuko Sanpei (Ena Kitamura), Cho (Nanba’s Father), Mayumi Tanaka (Nanba’s Mother), Akio Ohtsuka (Brian Jay), Tachiki Fumihiko (Jason Butler)
Space Brothers is an anime and movie (released in 2012) that I have not taken part in From what I hear, it’s supposed to be high quality. The film looks at the Space Brothers, Hibito and Mutta Nanba, both of whom dreamed of being astronauts as children, but only one kept working towards that goal while the other chose a more mundane life working for an automobile company.
Movie Edition of Rape Zombie Lust of the Dead A New Despair 
Japanese Title: 劇場版レイプゾンビ LUST OF THE DEAD 新たなる絶望
Romaji: Gekijouban Reipu Zonbi LUST OF THE DEAD arata naru zetsubō
Release Date: August 09th, 2014
Running Time: N/A
Director: Naoyuki Tomomatsu
Writer: Naoyuki Tomomatsu (Screenplay)
Starring: Yui Aikawa, Maki Aoyama, Asami, Meguri, Iona, Momoha, Takeshi Nakazawa, Yuya Takayama, Miho Wakabayashi, Riko Matsui, Aya Kisaki, Jun Tomita, An, Yoko Satomi, Ayumi Kuroki, Moe Sakura,
Leaving aside the awful premise, the original rape zombie was aaawful in terms of quality. It’s supposed to be erotic action comedy but it’s scummy garbage. Awful, awful, awful. So awful, I couldn’t review it and it made me wish Japan would stop making zombie films (I have only seen two decent ones, the rest have been pretty bad). How the original film got a sequel, I have no idea. This is the fifth in the series. Please, stop it. Someone. At the very least, foxy gravure idols keep getting paid. The story is a recut version of the fourth and fifth and sees women still trying to survive in a world full of sexual predator zombie creatures who molest them.
Ittsu ―THE MOVIE 2 
Japanese Title: いっツ ―THE MOVIE 2
Romaji: Ittsuuu ―THE MOVIE 2
Release Date: August 08th, 2014 (Japan)
Running Time: N/A
Director: Hideo Jojo
Writer: Kazuto Okada (Original Manga), Hideo Jojo (Screenplay),
Starring: Misaki Soejima, Tatsuya Nakayama,
Following on from last week’s Ittsu film… Kazuto Okada, author of the erotic manga Sundome, started a new one last year called Ittsuuu and that’s what the film is based on. The story is all about a shy boy named Sagami who falls in love with an upperclassman named Yui and takes some photos of her. When she finds out, the two start a weird relationship. Watch gravure idols play junior high school girls and flash their pantsu… In this one, the kids shoot a zombie flick but when a girl named Kakeru is cast and Sagami sees up her skirt, it leads to strife between Sagami and his Yui.
Kurage to ano Musume 
Japanese Title: くらげとあの娘
Romaji: Kurage to ano Musume
Release Date: August 09th, 2014 (Japan)
Running Time: 107 mins.
Director: Miyata Sokichi
Writer: Miyata Sokichi (Screenplay),
Starring: Emi Hatani, Miyako Yamaguchi, Yasuharu Miyadaira, Emi Saito, Ryoko Asakura, Sakuma Toshihiko, Setsu Hashimoto, Yuki Saito
The girl with the jellyfish… That’s what the title seems to translate as. It comes from Miyaka Sokichi, director of Sweet silly lovesong (2010) and in this film he brings to life a love story at Tsuruoka Aquarium in Yamagata Prefecture. Kohei (Miyadaira) sees a woman named Yuki (Hatani) throw a bouquet into the sea and by talking to colleagues at the aquarium, discovers a little bit about Yuki. With this information, he talks to her and slowly they get to know each other.
Chain 
Japanese Title: チェイン Chain
Romaji: Chein
Release Date: August 09th, 2014 (Japan)
Running Time: 78 mins.
Director: Takato Hosoi
Writer: Fuyuki Shimaeda, Saki Matsumoto (Screenplay),
Starring: Rei Sugai, Hiroyuki Watanabe, Asuka Takahashi, Masatoshi Goto, Shunta Fukawa, Hideo Asayama, Ruiko Shinozaki,
The weekend looked really quiet when writing this trailer post and then I found this one. A crime thriller/suspense horror named Chain, which was made in 2013. It takes place in Niigata during the winter and shows how a schoolgirl named Natsumi (Takahashi) is brutally murdered and the crime is streamed online via the “Freedom” SNS. Her homeroom teacher (Sugai), sees this and is horrified. Enter veteran detective Sakurai (Watanabe), from the police who roots through different testimonies and much evidence gathering and finds an insidious story of peer pressure made worse by SNS.
Yamaguchi Fujio Massacre Ballad 
Japanese Title: 山口冨士夫 皆殺しのバラード
Romaji: Yamaguchi Fujio Minagoroshi no Barado
Release Date: August 09th, 2014 (Japan)
Running Time: 96 mins.
Director: Jun Kawaguchi
Writer: N/A
Starring: Fujio Yamaguchi
Fujio Yamaguchi recently passed away and this documentary celebrates the life o a musician who debuted in the 1960’s and worked with the likes of Sheena & the Rockets. I have never heard of Fujio Yamaguchi but I have heard of one of the guys who collaborated with him, Les Rallizes Denudes so I kind of understand what music he’s producing.
